This might be a Mencken Violation but….

To remind: “For every complex problem, there's a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” OK, so when there’s a simple, neat, solution we must consider whether it’s wrong.

At which point:

The safety of tap water in the UK could be at risk because water companies are unable to use products to clean it, industry insiders have said, as all the laboratories that test and certify the chemicals have shut down.

People in the industry have called it a “Brexit problem” because EU countries will share laboratory capacity from 2026, meaning that if the UK was still in the EU, water companies would be able to use products that passed tests on the continent.

But UK rules mean products cannot be tested abroad; they have to be tested in the country in a certified lab, of which there are now none.

At which point the simple and neat solution is to just adopt the EU testing regime was being sufficient. Any remainer cannot complain at this - we’d have to accept that regime if we had remained or we in the future rejoin. Any leaver, well, why not accept this rule if it’s simple and neat to do so?

After all, the point is not that we must have a different regulatory regime on everything. Rather, that we get to pick and choose where we’ll have the same, or similar, or different regulations. We get to choose from that smorgasbord of options by which Brussels tries to suppress an economy.

To put it another way. Where Brussels are not being idiots - if such cases exist - why not just say that something tested to their standards is fine for us? Say, on raising chickens. Or testing metals. Or lightbulbs. Or chemicals for use in water systems? Where they are being idiots then we diverge.

Brexit means we get to choose. So, why not exercise that option of choosing? There is no need to recreate an entire parallel system, only to accept what works and not what doesn’t.

Now, to be a Mencken Violation that simple and neat solution has to be correct. So, is this a Mencken Violation? That is, why is just accepting EU testing on water chemicals - at the saving of being able to use them given that we have no relevant laboratories - wrong?

After all, it is simple and neat. The problem would be solved by a one line bill we could get done by Tuesday afternoon. “EU approved water chemicals are cool for use in the UK” might not be quite parliamentary language but it does the job.

So, why’s it wrong?

Tim Worstall